Mayor Thomas Menino and WBZ-4 anchor Joyce Kulhawik joined cancer survivors yesterday to support the American Cancer Society’s Daffodil Days fundraiser at Quincy Market.
This weeklong program benefits the ACS’s research, education, advocacy and service efforts through sales of bouquets of bright yellow daffodils.
Menino emphasized the importance of the Daffodil Days program.
“[Daffodil Days] is a great way to get resources and fund research,” Menino said. “The battle isn’t over; we have a long way to go.”
Kulhawik, who has survived melanoma and two incidences of ovarian cancer, is this year’s honorary chairperson. She has promoted Daffodil Days in Boston since the ACS introduced the program to the city 20 years ago.
“As a cancer patient who’s been through this disease, I know what it is to need hope,” Kulhawik said. “That is what Daffodil Days is about. They keep coming back each spring, just like me.”
According to Kulhawik, over $550,000 has been raised through the sale of 300,000 daffodils in Boston this week. The ACS expects sales to total over $3.5 million by the end of the week.
Proceeds from the sales benefit programs such as the ACS’s toll-free, 24-hour cancer information hotline, which ACS regional vice president Maureen Sullivan said provides the latest information on cancer treatments and clinical trials.
Sullivan said the idea of selling daffodils to support cancer research originated in the Canadian Cancer Society. The program then expanded into the United States and blossomed, particularly in colder climates, where daffodils are the first flowers of spring, Sullivan said.
Last year, Daffodil Days earned $3 million in New England alone, Sullivan said.
“Our goal is to decrease cancer mortality by 50 percent and to reduce the incidence of cancer by 25 percent by 2015, and to improve the quality of life for cancer survivors,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan endured over 6 months of chemotherapy and 6 weeks of radiation treatment after developing Hodgkin’s disease seven years ago.
“It’s a life-changing experience,” Sullivan said. “As hard and as scary as it was, it was a gift. Now, I’ll never look at life as anything other than a joy.”
During Daffodil Days, businesses and individuals can buy vases and boxes of daffodils for their home or office, as well as purchase a “Gift of Hope,” a daffodil bouquet in a vase. The gift is given anonymously to a cancer patient in a local hospital.
To show support for Daffodil Days, the Faneuil Hall management has purchased daffodil vases that will be displayed at all the stores in Quincy Market.
“This is part of our challenge to local businesses to participate in Daffodil Days,” said Faneuil Hall general manager Michael Kelleher.